The Giants won Game 1 behind a strong pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner while the Royals won Games 2 and 3 as their pitchers limited San Francisco to 2 runs per game. The Giants won Games 4 and 5, thanks to 11 runs in Game 4 and Bumgarner's complete gameshutout in Game 5. Kansas City tied the series in Game 6, shutting out San Francisco and scoring 10 runs, which forced a Game 7. The Giants won the final game, 3–2, thanks to timely hitting, including the game-winning RBI by Michael Morse to score Pablo Sandoval. Bumgarner pitched five shutout innings in relief on two days' rest to clinch the championship, claiming the series MVP award.

Background

Kansas City Royals

The Royals made their third World Series appearance in franchise history, the others being in 1980, when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, and 1985, when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Furthermore, the Royals ended a stretch of 28 consecutive seasons in which they did not appear in the postseason, the second-longest such streak since the MLB postseason was expanded in 1995.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants made their third World Series appearance in five years, having won in 2010 and 2012, their 20th appearance overall, and their sixth appearance since moving to San Francisco from New York City in 1958. The Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 8–0 in the NL Wild Card game,[5] the Washington Nationals in four games in the NLDS 3 games to 1,[6] and the St. Louis Cardinals in five games in the NLCS 4 games to 1 [7] (in the process denying a rematch of the 1985 World Series). The World Series was the Giants' second trip to Kauffman Stadium in 2014, as the Royals had swept them in a three-game series on August 8–10.

All-Star Game controversy

The Royals had home field advantage in this World Series as a result of the American League's 5–3 victory in the 2014 All-Star Game. During that game, the American League took a 3–0 lead in the first inning, aided by New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter's double off of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. In post-game interviews, Wainwright suggested that he intentionally gave Jeter some easy pitches to hit, knowing that it was the Yankees shortstop's final All-Star appearance before retiring at the end of the season. This caused several writers to question the integrity of the rule awarding home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league in the All-Star Game, although the Royals would have had home field advantage anyway due to having a better record by one game.[8][9]

The Giants threatened again in the top of the fourth when Pence doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and Brandon Belt walked. Michael Morse then singled to score the fourth run of the game, which knocked Shields out of the game. Danny Duffy was brought in. After allowing a sacrifice bunt to Juan Pérez (who pinch hit for Travis Ishikawa), Duffy allowed two straight walks to Crawford and Blanco, bringing the fifth run in for the Giants. He retired the next two batters to end the inning. The score remained 5–0 until the top of the seventh, when Blanco drew another walk. Joe Panik hit a ball to right fielder Aoki, which he misplayed, allowing Blanco to score and Panik to reach third. Tim Collins was brought in and allowed a single to Sandoval after Posey lined out, which was the seventh and final run for San Francisco.

The Royals scored their only run on a Salvador Pérez home run with two outs off Bumgarner, which proved to be the only run given up by Bumgarner in the series. That homer also ended Bumgarner's consecutive scoreless innings streak in the World Series at 21, second only to Giants Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson, who went 28.[18] Collins and Jason Frasor each pitched scoreless innings for the Royals, while Javier López and Hunter Strickland closed out the game for the Giants with scoreless eighth and ninth innings. The loss was Kansas City's first of the 2014 postseason, following eight consecutive wins in the Wild Card Game, ALDS and ALCS. This also snapped the Royals' franchise postseason winning streak at 11 games dating back to the 1985 World Series.[19]

Kansas City sent rookie Yordano Ventura to the mound in an attempt to even the series. San Francisco countered with Jake Peavy. The Giants scored first on a lead-off home run by Gregor Blanco. This would turn out to be the last home run the Giants would hit in this series. Alcides Escobar singled leading off the Royals' first but was thrown out trying to steal second base. The Royals, however, tied up the game on a Lorenzo Cain double, Eric Hosmer walk and a Billy Butler single, all with two outs.

The Royals gained the lead in the bottom of the second inning on doubles by Omar Infante and Escobar, but the Giants tied the game on doubles by Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt. Belt got tagged out attempting to advance to third but out returning to second when Michael Morse flied out to right fielder Norichika Aoki, who threw to Ventura, who threw to Infante, thus ending the inning. In the top of the sixth inning, both Buster Posey and Hunter Pence singled, knocking Ventura out of the game. Kelvin Herrera was brought in and got the last two outs to end the inning.

Kansas City regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as Cain singled to center and Hosmer walked, prompting Bruce Bochy to take out Peavy and put in Jean Machi. Butler singled to left, which drove in Cain and gave the Royals the lead. He was replaced by pinch runner Terrance Gore. Javier López was brought in to face Alex Gordon, whom he retired. Hunter Strickland was then brought in. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Salvador Pérez hit a double to left-center to drive in both runners. Infante then hit a two-run home run to left field, bringing the score to 7–2 Royals. Tensions began to rise as Strickland and Perez got into a shouting match as Perez was crossing home plate. Both dugouts cleared but the umpiring crew managed to calm the situation down. Jeremy Affeldt came in and allowed a single to Mike Moustakas but then induced a double play from Escobar to end the inning.

Herrera returned for the seventh inning. He struck out Travis Ishikawa but allowed consecutive walks to Brandon Crawford and Blanco. He then retired the last two batters to end the Giants's seventh. Tim Lincecum pitched ​12⁄3 innings for the Giants, but left the game due to an injury and Santiago Casilla faced Lincecum's last batter in the eighth. Wade Davis pitched a perfect eighth, and Greg Holland struck out the side in the ninth to end the game and secure the victory for the Royals.

The series shifted to San Francisco for Game 3. Tim Hudson started his first career World Series game, as did Royals' starter Jeremy Guthrie. The Royals scored first when Alcides Escobar doubled to lead off the game and came around to score on groundouts by Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain. Kansas City mounted a rally when Mike Moustakas singled and Omar Infante walked, but Hudson ended the threat with a lineout and a double play. Both pitchers settled down until the sixth inning.

The Royals started another threat in the top of the sixth inning. Escobar singled with one out. Gordon then doubled to center field to score Escobar and increase the Royals' lead. Cain grounded to third for the second out, and Bruce Bochy brought in southpaw Javier Lopez to face the left-handed hitting Eric Hosmer. Hosmer battled an eleven pitch at-bat with Lopez until finally singling to center to score Gordon for what would end up being the game-winning RBI. Lopez retired Moustakas to end the inning.

The Giants responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Crawford singled and Michael Morse doubled, scoring Crawford, and causing the Royals to replace Guthrie with Kelvin Herrera. Herrera walked Gregor Blanco to put runners on first and second. After Joe Panik grounded out to advance the runners to second and third, Buster Posey then hit an RBI groundout scoring Morse and cutting the Giants' deficit to one. Pablo Sandoval then grounded out to Hosmer to end the inning.

Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless seventh for the Giants. Herrera walked Hunter Pence to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, but struck out Brandon Belt. Brandon Finnegan was then brought in for the Royals, which also made him the first rookie pitcher to pitch in the College World Series and the World Series in the same year. He retired the last two batters to end the seventh.

Romo struck out the first batter of the eighth inning. Jeremy Affeldt came in for the Giants and retired Gordon and Cain. Wade Davis retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth. Affeldt retired the first two batters of the ninth. Santiago Casilla came in and retired the last batter. Greg Holland was brought in to save the game for the Royals. He retired the middle of the Giants lineup in order and saved the game for the Royals, giving them a 2–1 series lead.

The Giants sent Ryan Vogelsong to the mound, while the Royals sent Jason Vargas. The Giants scored in the bottom of the first inning when Gregor Blanco walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third base, and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Hunter Pence.

The Royals countered in the top of the third inning where they batted around. Alcides Escobar singled with one out. Alex Gordon grounded into a forceout for the second out of the inning, then stole second base. Consecutive infield singles by Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer brought Gordon home to tie the game. Mike Moustakas then walked to load up the bases. Omar Infante singled to center to score Cain and Hosmer to make it 3–1 Royals. Salvador Pérez followed with another single to score Moustakas and knock Vogelsong out of the game. Jean Machi came in and walked Jarrod Dyson, but struck out the pitcher with the bases loaded to end the threat.

The Giants scored a run in the bottom of the inning when pinch hitter Matt Duffy singled, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a single to left field by Buster Posey. Yusmeiro Petit pitched three scoreless innings starting with the fourth to keep the Royals off the board.

After the Royals failed to do anything with a lead-off double from Hosmer in the top of the 5th, the Giants tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Joe Panik started the inning with a double to right-center, which knocked Vargas out of the game. Jason Frasor was brought in. A groundout moved Panik to third, and he scored on a single to center by Pence. Danny Duffy replaced Frasor in the game. Pablo Sandoval singled and Brandon Belt walked to load the bases. Juan Pérez hit a sinking liner to center, but it was caught by a diving Jarrod Dyson. Pence tagged up at third and scored the tying run. Duffy struck out Brandon Crawford to end the inning.

San Francisco gained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Brandon Finnegan replaced Duffy. Pinch hitter Joaquín Árias and Blanco both singled to lead off the inning. Panik bunted to move the runners over to second and third. Finnegan intentionally walked Posey to load the bases and set up a force play at any base. Hunter Pence hit the ball to shortstop Escobar, who threw home for the forceout. However, Sandoval singled to center to score Blanco and Posey, giving the Giants a two-run lead. Belt hit another single to center which scored Pence to score the third run of the inning. Pérez grounded out to end the inning.

Jeremy Affeldt pitched a scoreless seventh for the Giants. Finnegan started the Giants' seventh by allowing an infield single to Crawford and a walk to pinch-hitter Michael Morse, knocking him out of the game. Tim Collins was then brought in. He fielded a bunt ground ball by Blanco, but threw the ball away, allowing Crawford to score. Panik then hit a double to center field to score both Morse and Blanco. After Posey grounded out, Pence doubled to left field, scoring Panik, and giving the Giants' their eleventh and final run of the game.

Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless eighth for the Giants, as did Collins for the Royals. Hunter Strickland allowed a double to Gordon in the ninth inning, but he did not score, as Hosmer grounded out to end the game.[23]

In this game, the Giants set a Series record for NL teams by getting hits from 11 different players. Of the 16 total hits, 13 were singles.

Madison Bumgarner became the first pitcher to record a complete gameshutout in a World Series game since Josh Beckett did so for the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series, and the first Giants pitcher to accomplish the feat since Jack Sanford in Game 2 of the 1962 World Series. Bumgarner only allowed four hits, recorded eight strikeouts and no walks. When Bumgarner did allow a hit, he shut down the Royals after that by coming up with 6 of his 8 strikeouts immediately after allowing a hit.[25] The only time that the Giants' pitcher allowed the Royals to get into scoring position was Omar Infante's one-out double in the fifth inning, but Bumgarner then struck out the next two Kansas City batters.

This was the third straight game in which neither team hit a home run, the first such occurrence in a World Series since 1948.[26][27] The Giants opened the scoring in the second, starting with Hunter Pence's single and Brandon Belt's bunt base hit. After Travis Ishikawa flied out to center to advance both runners, Brandon Crawford grounded out to second, with Pence scoring. Crawford then recorded an RBI single to right in the fourth, allowing Pablo Sandoval to score from second base to give San Francisco a 2–0 lead. Kansas City starter James Shields was relieved by Kelvin Herrera after pitching six innings. Herrera kept the score at 2–0 in the seventh. But in the eighth, Sandoval and Pence led off with back-to-back singles, and Herrera was then relieved by Wade Davis. Juan Pérez hit a one-out double, scoring Sandoval and Pence, with Pérez reaching third base on a throwing error by Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar. Pérez had learned of his friend Oscar Taveras having died in the middle of the game and broke down in tears. He dedicated the double to Oscar, posting a tweet. Crawford then recorded his third RBI of the game with a single to left to score Pérez to make it 5–0.

The Royals scored seven runs in the second inning en route to a 10–0 win and forcing a Game 7. Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura in memory of his lost friend Oscar Taveras pitched seven innings, allowing only three Giants hits.[29]

Royals hitters knocked out San Francisco starter Jake Peavy after ​11⁄3 innings. After Alex Gordon and Salvador Pérez led off the second with back-to-back singles, Mike Moustakas hit an RBI double to score Gordon. After Omar Infante struck out for the first out with runners on second and third, Alcides Escobar reached base safely on an infield hit, where first baseman Brandon Belt hesitated to make sure Pérez didn't try to head home, which allowed Escobar to slide safely to first. Now with the bases loaded, Nori Aoki recorded an RBI single to score Pérez, which ended Peavy's night. Yusmeiro Petit replaced Peavy on the mound, and allowed a single by Lorenzo Cain, and doubles by Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler that scored five more Kansas City runs made the score 7–0. Cain then hit an RBI ground rule double in the third, Escobar an RBI double in the fifth, and Moustakas a home run in the seventh.[30] The solo shot from Moustakas was his fifth homer of the postseason, which broke Willie Aikens' franchise record of 4 home runs in a single postseason.[31]

Although Giants starter Tim Hudson failed to make it past the bottom of the second inning after giving up two runs, reliever Jeremy Affeldt and series MVP Madison Bumgarner shut out the Kansas City offense the rest of the game, as the Giants held on for a tense 3–2 victory.

After a scoreless first inning, the Giants struck first in the top of the second inning. Pablo Sandoval reached on a hit by pitch and Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt each singled to load the bases with nobody out. Michael Morse hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored Sandoval and moved Pence to third. Brandon Crawford followed with another sacrifice fly to center that scored Pence, giving the Giants a 2–0 lead.

The Royals immediately struck back in the bottom of the second. Billy Butler came through with a single and then an Alex Gordon double managed to score the slow-running Butler from first. Salvador Pérez was hit by a pitch from Hudson on the knee, which put the now hobbled Perez on first. Mike Moustakas advanced Gordon to third and then the Royals tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Omar Infante. After Alcides Escobar singled to put two men on with two outs, manager Bruce Bochy brought in Affeldt, who retired Nori Aoki to end the threat.

Affeldt pitched a scoreless third inning, with excellent defensive help by Giants rookie second baseman Joe Panik on a key double play. With a runner on first and no outs, Panik made a diving stop on a ball hit up the middle by Eric Hosmer and then flipped the ball from his glove while still on the ground to Crawford at second base, who quickly threw over to Belt at first. Hosmer made a diving slide into first instead of running through the bag. Although first base umpire Eric Cooper initially ruled that Hosmer was safe, Giants manager Bochy challenged the umpire's call. After a two-minute and fifty-seven second video review, the call was overturned. That play became the first successful challenge by a manager in a World Series.[33]

In the top of the fourth inning, Sandoval reached on an infield single and moved to third after Pence singled and Belt flied out to left. Manager Ned Yost brought in Kelvin Herrera to face Morse, but Morse fought off an 0–2 pitch and looped a broken-bat single to right field to score Sandoval, giving the Giants a 3–2 lead. After Affeldt pitched a scoreless bottom of the fourth, the Giants brought in Bumgarner on two days' rest to protect their one-run lead in the fifth. Bumgarner promptly gave up a base hit to Infante, then Aoki hit what appeared to be a game-tying double toward the left-field corner. But left fielder Juan Pérez, who was playing a good 5 feet closer to the left-field line than usual, made a nice running catch only a few feet from foul territory. Bumgarner then struck out Lorenzo Cain to end the inning.[34]

After allowing the single to Infante in the fifth inning, Bumgarner retired 14 batters in a row. The game ended in dramatic fashion when, with 2 outs, Gordon of the Royals lined an 87-mph slider to left-center field. Center fielder Gregor Blanco misplayed the ball, and it rolled to the wall. Left-fielder Pérez had trouble grabbing the ball, which allowed Gordon to reach third base as the potential tying run, on a base hit and error combination. (After the game, there was much discussion among fans and statisticians about the decision by third-base coach, Mike Jirschele, not to wave Gordon home in an attempt to tie the game.)[35][36] With the tying run 90-feet away Bumgarner faced Pérez who had the game-winning hit in the AL Wild Card Game on his resume. Bumgarner decided to throw high, inside fastballs to Perez, which are the easiest to see and the hardest to hit.[37] Bumgarner threw 6 pitches—all fastballs—to Perez, which finally induced a foul popup that was caught by Sandoval to end the game, series, and baseball season.[38] Bumgarner was initially credited with the win, which would have given him a 3–0 record in the series, the first since Randy Johnson in the 2001 World Series. However, following deliberation among the official scorers, it was decided that Affeldt by rule was entitled to the win.[39]

In all but one of the seven games, the team that scored first went on to win; the exception was in Game 2. Similarly, statistics show this pattern of scoring first to win has prevailed in 67% of Series Game-7 outcomes, as it did here after the victorious Giants scored in the top of the second.

The World Series started on a Tuesday for the first time since 1990, instead of a Wednesday as in previous years.[42][43][note 3]

Ratings

The 2014 World Series averaged a national Nielsen rating of 8.3/14, making it the second-worst rated World Series in Major League Baseball history (after the 2012 series).[44] Through six games, the series was averaging 7.4, which would have made it the worst-rated World Series, but Game 7 produced a respectable 13.7 to bolster the series average enough to avoid the notorious distinction.[note 4]

The 2014 World Series set records for lowest-rated Games 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in World Series history. The previous Game 7 in World Series history occurred in 2011, when the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers produced a 14.7 rating, a full 1.0 over 2014's Game 7.

This was the fifth consecutive World Series (and the sixth in seven years) to earn a national rating under 10.0.[note 5]

Locally, the series was broadcast on the teams' flagship radio stations with their respective announcing crews. In San Francisco, KNBR aired the games in English (with Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow and Dave Flemming announcing),[47] while KTRB broadcast in Spanish (with Erwin Higueros and Tito Fuentes announcing). In Kansas City, KCSP broadcast the games (with Denny Matthews and Ryan Lefebvre announcing). Due to contractual obligations, the affiliate stations on the teams' radio networks had to carry the ESPN Radio feed of the games,[48] although the local broadcasts were also available on Sirius and XM satellite radio and to Gameday Audio subscribers at MLB.com. In Kansas City, WHB carried the ESPN Radio feed in direct competition with KCSP's broadcast.

This was the first World Series for which Jon Miller, who had been the Giants' primary radio announcer since 1997, called the final, championship-clinching out to a local San Francisco audience.[note 6]

Historical notes

This was the second World Series in history in which two wild card teams faced each other. The first being the 2002 World Series between the Giants and the Anaheim Angels[note 7] It was the first World Series to involve a team (let alone two) that played in the additional wild card game instituted in 2012. Consequently, by winning, the Giants set the record for most victories in a single postseason with 12. This was also only the second World Series since 2002 to go to seven games.[note 8] Additionally, this was the first World Series in which both teams played in a play-in game[note 9] since the Division Series was added in 1994. It was also the first time in World Series history (after the advent of the 162-game schedule) that the opponents both had fewer than 90 wins in the regular season.[note 10] It was the first Series in history in which at least five games were decided by five or more runs.[49] It was the third World Series to end in Game 7 with the tying run on third base, after 1946 and 1962.[50]

The Giants became the first road team to win Game 7 of the World Series since the 1979Pirates, ending a string of nine straight home team victories in the deciding game.[51] The Giants were also the first team to come back to win Game 7 after losing Game 6 since the 1997Marlins as well as the first road team to do since the 1975Reds.[52] It was the Giants' first ever Game 7 victory in a best-of-seven World Series.[note 11] The victory wrapped up the Giants' third championship in five seasons, a feat accomplished only once previously by a National League team since the St. Louis Cardinals in 1942, 1944, and 1946. The Giants became the fifth franchise to win at least three titles in five years (or fewer), joining the Athletics, Cardinals, Red Sox, and Yankees.[53][54][55] Manager Bruce Bochy became the tenth manager in MLB history to win three championships, with the previous nine all inducted into the Hall of Fame.[note 12][56][57]

Earlier in the postseason, both teams extended their record streaks of victories in postseason elimination games to seven in their respective wild card games.[note 13] The Royals extended their streak to eight games with their victory in Game 6.[58] With their victory in Game 7, the Giants also extended their streak to eight games and consequently ended the Royals streak. The Giants extended their streak of postseason series wins to ten, extending the National League record, a streak surpassed only by the New York Yankees from 1998–2001 (11 consecutive series wins).[59]

Madison Bumgarner pitched 21 innings in the 2014 World Series and allowed just one run, giving him a series ERA of just 0.43,[60] the lowest since Sandy Koufax's 0.38 ERA in the 1965 World Series.[61] In the World Series, Bumgarner pitched more than one-third of the 61 innings thrown by the Giants.[53][62] Bumgarner set a new World Series record for lowest career ERA with 0.25 (minimum 25 innings pitched), besting Jack Billingham's 0.36 career ERA.[63] Bumgarner's ​522⁄3 innings pitched in the postseason set a new record, surpassing Curt Schilling's ​481⁄3 innings pitched in 2001.[64]

Aftermath

President Barack Obama meets with the 2014 World Series champion San Francisco Giants at the White House.

Despite rainy weather, hundreds of thousands of fans turned out for the Giants' victory parade in San Francisco on October 31, 2014.[65]

The Giants continued their pattern of winning the World Series in even-numbered years and missing the postseason in odd-numbered years, failing to make the playoffs in the 2015 season with an 84–78 record. Despite a successful season from Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco was unable to return to the playoffs due to numerous injuries and a below-par performance from its pitching staff.[66][67] Although the Giants made the postseason again in 2016, they lost to the eventual world champion Chicago Cubs in the NLDS; the Giants then followed that with a 64-98 record in 2017, tying Detroit for the worst record in the majors, and also finishing with their worst record since 1985 (62-100). A 73-89 record in 2018 helped end the Giants' streak of making the postseason in even-numbered years that started in 2010.

The Royals carried over their momentum from the previous fall, winning the American League Centralthe very next season. This was Kansas City's first division title since 1985, when they won the American League West. Their 95–67 record was the best in the American League, and the Royals' best since 1980.[68] Kansas City would go on to return to the World Series, where they defeated the New York Mets four games to one, making them the first team since the 1989 Oakland Athletics to win the World Series after losing the previous year.[69]

Notes

^The Giants moved from New York City to San Francisco after the 1957 season.

^Miller was broadcasting the 2010 series nationally for ESPN Radio; thus it fell to Duane Kuiper to call the final out on KNBR. In 2012, Dave Flemming called the final out on KNBR, as the fourth and final game ended in the 10th inning, which was one of Flemming's designated innings in the crew's play-by-play rotation.

The 2014 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Baltimore Orioles against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to play in the 2014 World Series. The Royals won the series four games to zero. The series was the 45th in league history with TBS airing all games in the United States. Even as the Royals swept the series, each game was decided by two runs or fewer.

To reach the 2014 ALCS, the Orioles (East Division champions, 96–66) defeated the Tigers (Central Division champions, 90–72) in the ALDS, 3 games to 0. The Royals (Wild Card, 89–73) defeated the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card Game and then defeated the Angels (West Division champions, 98–64) in the ALDS, 3 games to 0.It was the first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams. It was the first ALCS since 2005 not to feature the Yankees, Red Sox, or Tigers.

The Royals would go on to lose to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

The 2014 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the St. Louis Cardinals against the San Francisco Giants for the National League pennant and the right to play in the 2014 World Series. The series was the 45th in league history with Fox airing Game 1 and Fox Sports 1 airing Games 2–5 in the United States. Game 1 was simulcast on Fox Sports 1 and was hosted by Kevin Burkhardt, Gabe Kapler and C.J. Nitkowski, who offered sabermetric analysis of the game.To reach the 2014 NLCS, the Cardinals (Central Division champions, 90–72) defeated the Dodgers (West Division champions, 94–68) in the NLDS, 3 games to 1. The Giants (Wild Card, 88–74) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game and then defeated the Nationals (East Division champions, 96–66) in the NLDS, 3 games to 1.This was the fourth time the two teams have met in the postseason (1987 NLCS, 2002 NLCS, and 2012 NLCS). The Cardinals, by virtue of being a division winner, had the home field advantage. The Giants clinched their third pennant within a five-year span, with NLCS wins in 2010 and 2012.

The Giants would go on to defeat the Kansas City Royals in the World Series in seven games, winning their third World Series championship in five years.

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Jon Wesley Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997 he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball announcer for ESPN from 1990 to 2010. Miller received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Kansas City Royals are a franchise based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are members of the Central division of Major League Baseball's American League. The Royals franchise was formed in 1969.

There have been 19 managers for the Royals. Joe Gordon became the first manager of the Kansas City Royals in 1969, serving for one season. Bob Lemon became the first manager who held the title of manager for the Royals for more than one season. Ned Yost has managed more games than any other Royals manager and as many seasons as Dick Howser and Tony Muser. Whitey Herzog, Jim Frey, Howser, and Ned Yost are the only managers to have led the Royals into the playoffs. Three Royals managers—Gordon, Lemon, and Herzog—have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame;In 1970, Gordon was replaced with Charlie Metro. The Royals made their first playoff appearance under Herzog. Four managers have led the Royals into the postseason. Dick Howser led the Royals to their first World Series Championship in 1985. Ned Yost led the Royals into two World Series appearances, in the 2014 World Series, and a Win in the 2015 World Series. Frey, led the Royals to One world series appearance in the 1980 World Series. The highest winning percentage of any manager who managed at least one season was Herzog, with a percentage of .574. The lowest percentage was Bob Schaefer in 2005, although he managed for only 17 games. The lowest percentage of a manager with at least one season with the Royals was Buddy Bell, the manager from 2005 through the 2007 season with a percentage of .399.

The highest win total for a Royals manager is held by Yost, who also holds the record for losses. Tony Peña became the first Royals manager to win the Manager of the Year award, in 2003. The current manager of the Royals is Ned Yost. He was hired on May 13, 2010 after Trey Hillman was fired.

The Kansas City Royals are a professional baseball team from Kansas City, Missouri, currently playing in the American League Central.

The team was formed by pharmaceutical executive Ewing Kauffman as a result of the move of the Athletics to Oakland, and began play in 1969. They became competitive more quickly than most expansion teams in Major League Baseball, achieving a winning record in their third season. By 1976, the young team was becoming the dominant force in the AL West, winning 90 or more games in four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978 and twice being denied a World Series berth in the ninth inning by the Yankees.

Despite two lapses to below 80 wins, the Royals remained a force in baseball for a decade, reaching the 1980 World Series and winning in 1985 against cross-state rivals the St. Louis Cardinals, becoming the only team to ever rally from a three games to one deficit twice in the same postseason to win the World Series.

The team remained competitive throughout the mid-1990s, but then had only one winning season from 1995 to 2012. For 28 consecutive seasons, between the 1985 World Series championship and 2014, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, one of the longest postseason droughts during baseball's current expanded wild-card era. The worst years of era were from 2002 to 2006, when the Royals had four 100-loss seasons out of five. The team broke its postseason drought by securing the franchise's first ever wild card berth in 2014, and then advancing to the 2014 World Series.

Timothy Adam Hudson (born July 14, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher of Major League Baseball (MLB). After spending his college years at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Auburn University, Hudson played in the major leagues for the Oakland Athletics (1999–2004), the Atlanta Braves (2005–13) and the San Francisco Giants (2014–15). With the Giants, he won the 2014 World Series over the Kansas City Royals, giving him his only world title.

During his 17-season career, Hudson established himself as one of baseball's most consistent pitchers and until 2014 had never had a season where he suffered more losses than wins. Hudson was also named an All-Star four times: twice with Oakland, once with Atlanta, and once with San Francisco.

Before retiring in 2015, Hudson was the winningest active Major League pitcher, as well as one of four active pitchers with at least 200 career wins. With a win against the Oakland A's on July 26, 2015, he has won a game against every team in the majors, the 15th pitcher to do so. Hudson is one of twenty-one pitchers in Major League history to win at least 200 games, strikeout 2,000 batters and have a win-loss percentage above 0.600. Of those twenty-one, fourteen are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Whiteyball is a style of playing baseball that was developed by former Major League Baseball manager Whitey Herzog. The term was coined by the press during the 1982 World Series to describe the style of Herzog's St. Louis Cardinals. The team won the Series without a typical power hitter, instead using speed on the base paths, solid pitching, excellent defense, and line drive base hits. Whiteyball was well-suited to the fast, hard AstroTurf surface that Busch Memorial Stadium had at the time, which created large, unpredictable bounces when the ball hit it at sharp angles. In his book "White Rat", Herzog says the approach was a response to the spacious, artificial surface stadiums of the time. He said of the media's dismay at his teams' success:

They seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters. They called it "Whitey-ball" and said it couldn't last.

Herzog used this strategy until he left the Cardinals in 1990.

A 2012 sports article described Whiteyball as follows:

"The '82 Series marked the start of Whiteyball, the Herzog style which stressed base running and pitching, though Herzog attributes that to the nature of Busch Stadium II, which didn't reward the long ball."Herzog used many switch-hitters such as Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Tom Herr, Terry Pendleton, Vince Coleman, José Oquendo, Garry Templeton, Ted Simmons, Luis Alicea, Mike Ramsey, Tony Scott, and Félix José along with Willie Wilson and U L Washington when he managed in Kansas City. Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost used his own version of Whiteyball to get to the 2014 World Series.

The World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) is the third expansion of the World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970 participants have had to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP started holding circuit events in 2005 in other states, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. In 2007 the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas. The WSOP further expanded to Africa in 2010 and 2012 however these events did not award any bracelets.

The WSOP Europe and WSOP Asia Pacific rotate annually, with WSOP APAC being held in even-numbered years and WSOPE in odd-numbered years. Therefore, the WSOP Asia Pacific was held in 2014 while the next WSOP Europe event was in 2015.

The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas. From its inception to the 2013 tournament, players from 19 countries — USA (10), France (4), UK (3), Denmark (3), Canada (2), Norway (2), Portugal (2), Italy (2), Afghanistan, Germany, Indonesia, Spain, New Zealand, Sweden, Tunisia, Switzerland, Australia, Italy and Finland — have won bracelets.

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